September 5. His first action after taking over was to hire Buck Rodgers, who had just won the Minor League Manager of the Year Award by leading the Expos' AAA farm team, the Indianapolis Indians to a 91-63 record and the American Association championship. Due to a tight budget set by the Expos ownership, Cook had to rely on trades instead of signing free agents. He traded away Gary Carter, Bill Gullickson, and Jeff Reardon in order to acquire promising minor league talent. He became known for picking up prospects that other teams were willing to discard, such as Dennis Martínez and Pascual Pérez. He also used the Rule 5 draft to acquire Jeff Parrett. Scandal On August 11, 1987, the Expos called a hasty press conference to announce Cook had been fired and Vice-President for Baseball Administration Bill Stoneman was taking over as general manager. Over the next few weeks, rumours began circulating that the firing was not for baseball reasons. In fact, Cook had been dismissed for having an affair with Pamela Brochu, wife of Expos President and CEO Claude Brochu. Cook broke up with his wife of many years to marry his former boss's wife. Reds After the 1986 season, Cook was hired to replace Bill Bergesch, the same man he had replaced in New York, as GM of the Cincinnati Reds. They finished second in 1988 and won three more games than the previous season. However, in 1989 the Reds fell to fifth due to the turmoil surrounding manager Pete Rose being banned from baseball. Cook was replaced by Bob Quinn after the season. The year after Cook was let go, the Reds won the World Series. Later career From 2002 through 2006, Cook was a major league scout for the Boston Red Sox, joining Boston after nearly a decade as a scout for the Florida Marlins. Since the season, he has been the East Coast regional crosschecker for the Detroit Tigers. On Saturday June 21, 2014, Cook was inducted into the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, in St. Marys, Ontario, along with former Montreal Expos announcer Dave Van Horne and their popular long time slugging outfielder Tim Wallach. References Baseball America Executive Database External links 1940 births Living people Batavia Pirates players Boston Red Sox scouts Canadian baseball players Cincinnati Reds executives Detroit Tigers scouts Gastonia Pirates players Major League Baseball scouting directors Major League